As Harry S. Truman’s presidency came to a close in late 1952, African American leaders sometimes praised him at public events by introducing him as “Mr. Civil Rights.” This title was also bestowed upon Thurgood Marshall, the director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund who was in the middle of a remarkable run of litigation victories at the Supreme Court. At a NAACP convention two months after he helped mastermind the legal campaign that culminated in the 1954 school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the crowd greeted Marshall with chants of “Mr. Civil Rights.” Marshall was not the only African American activist who earned this title. Donald Hollowell, the prominent Atlanta attorney, was also referred to as Mr. Civil Rights.